Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 135 (2015) 461–465

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol

Determination of elemental sulfur deposition rates for different natural

gas compositions
J.P.L. Santos a, A.K.C. Lima Lobato b, C. Moraes c, L.C.L. Santos d,n
a
Federal University of Sergipe, Petroleum Engineering Core, Av. Marechal Rondon, S/N, Jardim Rosa Elze, CEP: 49100-000 São Cristóvão/SE, Brazil
b
Federal University of Bahia, Postgraduate Program of Chemical Engineering, R. Prof. Aristides Novis, 2, 2º andar, Federação, CEP 40210-630 Salvador/BA,
Brazil
c
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Chemical Engineering, Av. Horário Macedo, 2030, Ilha do Fundão, CEP 21941-909, Rio de Janeiro/RJ,
Brazil
d
Federal University of Bahia, Department of Materials Science and Technology, R. Prof. Aristides Novis, 2, 3º andar, Federação, CEP 40210-630, Salvador/BA,
Brazil

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Natural gas is increasing its share in the worldwide energy market. However, it poses several problems
Received 26 April 2015 during transportation. The formation and deposition of elemental sulfur (S8) in pipelines is the issue that
Received in revised form has the greatest impact on both operational safety and maintenance costs. The formation of S8 as a
28 September 2015
yellow powder may be influenced by changes in operational conditions, such as pressure and tem-
Accepted 8 October 2015
Available online 14 October 2015
perature drops, and by the composition of the natural gas stream. This study aims to examine the
contribution of the nucleation phenomenon to the process of S8 formation and deposition. Simulations
Keywords: were performed using the HYSYSs V7 process simulator, with the Peng-Robinson equation of state, and a
Natural Gas MATLAB routine was devised to calculate the variables affecting the nucleation rate. The influence of
Simulation
natural gas composition on the nucleation rate was evaluated using thermophysical data of average gas
Elemental sulfur
streams from fields of the Brazilian states of Ceará/Rio Grande do Norte (CE/RN), Espírito Santo (ES), Rio
Desublimation
Nucleation de Janeiro (RJ) and Bahia (Fazenda Mamoeiro Field, FSP). The results show that gas composition and
operational conditions may influence the amount of sulfur deposited in the pipelines, and the nucleation
rate increases by reducing the temperature.
& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction resulting in low production or even shutdowns (Zhou et al., 2013).

Natural gas is increasing its share in the worldwide energy
market because of industrial growth. Therefore, concerns about
environmental risks and safety issues during its transportation
and distribution must be taken into account. Several problems
may occur during natural gas transportation, particularly the for-
mation and deposition of elemental sulfur (S8) in pipelines, which
has high impact on both operational safety and maintenance costs.
Deposition of S8 in pipelines is an increasingly observed and
studied phenomenon. Santos et al. (2013) stated that the forma-
tion and deposition of sulfur in pipelines can cause serious con-
sequences for the production, processing, operation and trans-
portation of gas. Pipe blockage caused by sulfur deposition and
corrosion caused by perforated pipes and damaged equipment
failure can seriously affect the normal operation of the field,
n
Corresponding author. Fax: þ 55 71 3283 9835.
E-mail addresses: jplobo@ufs.br (J.P.L. Santos),
katerine.carvalho@ufba.br (A.K.C. Lima Lobato), caetano@eq.ufrj.br (C. Moraes),
lclsantos@ufba.br (L.C.L. Santos).
Taylor and Kimtantas (2014) reported that solid elemental
sulfur deposits can accumulate and cause flow constriction,
thereby reducing the separation capacity of the equipment. They
can plug instrumentation connections, cause poor process control,
and require additional maintenance costs. Chesnoy and Pack
(1997) have shown that elemental sulfur deposition onto mea-
surement instruments may cause errors of up to 2%, or even higher
in some cases, on the readings of transported gas volumes.
Pack et al. (2013) discovered that trace amounts of sulfur vapor
in the gas stream could create elemental sulfur deposits in the gas
stream during local depressurization, as occurs in metering de-
vices, through the process of desublimation, and hence adversely
impact the flow measurement accuracy.
According to Pack (2005) and Cézac et al. (2008), nucleation is
the most probable mechanism to promote sulfur deposition in
natural gas pipelines. According to these authors, the process of
sulfur formation and deposition basically comprises three nu-
cleation steps, namely particle formation, coagulation and/or
condensation (particle growth), and deposition.
Zhu et al. (2011) concluded that temperature is the dominant

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2015.10.011
0920-4105/& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
462 J.P.L. Santos et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 135 (2015) 461–465

parameter affecting condensate formation, whereas pressure is the small nuclei grow and disperse, until they reach a certain size
dominant parameter for desublimation. In general, natural gas (critical nucleus) that enables the continuous growth of crystals.
transportation systems operate with high flow rates, low tem- The nucleation process is a microscopic phenomenon that involves
perature drops (due to thermal insulation) and high pressure from tens to thousands of molecules, so it is difficult to observe it
drops (because of turbulent flow). Unless there is a sudden local experimentally in pipelines.
temperature drop in the system, pressure variation seems to be an Zhu et al. (2011) showed that the precipitation of elemental
important parameter to describe the deposition mechanism. Thus, sulfur does not occur immediately at the point in the pipeline
the mechanism of elemental sulfur deposition via nucleation and where the gas stream flows. At this point, the initial concentration
desublimation seems to be more probable. of sulfur in the vapor phase reaches the maximum solubility in
Studies by Pack et al. (2012) validated by actual data on the natural gas. A limit of this barrier, which is controlled by the Gibbs
deposition locations of elemental sulfur in pipelines show that free energy, has to be overcome to form a critical nucleus, based on
flow dynamics in pipelines with “T” junctions may be an im- the Classical Nucleation Theory. The nucleation rate can be ob-
portant parameter affecting preferential deposition in specific lo- tained from the combination of Eq. (1)–(5) according to Turk
cations such as valves. (2000):
The problem has become more evident as natural gas con-
( −ΔG )
sumption has increased, and has created significant operation and J = Ke kBT (1)
maintenance problems, resulting in high costs for the industry.
Thus, the understanding of the problem and the consequent where J is the nucleation rate (cm  3 s  1); K is the pre-exponential
search for a solution are very important for the operation of nat- factor (cm  3 s  1); ΔG is Gibbs free energy (J); kB is the Boltzmann
ural gas transportation systems. Solving the problem can help to constant (J/K); and T is the temperature (K).
reduce maintenance costs and lessen the need for internal The Gibbs free energy is a state function which depends only on
equipment inspections. the initial and final states. Enthalpy and entropy values of the in-
Nucleation has been mentioned as one of the factors that may itial and final states can be obtained from HYSYSs, together with
contribute to sulfur formation and deposition (Pack, 2005; Cézac information on natural gas composition, pressure and tempera-
et al., 2008). However, studies on the nucleation process are still ture. Using these values calculated for the gas streams from the
just beginning, and more research is needed. Therefore, in- desired fields, the variation of the Gibbs energy can be obtained
vestigating the mechanism of elemental sulfur formation is part of from Eq. (2):
the objective of this work, and the aim is to better understand the ΔG = ΔH − T ΔS (2)
contribution of the nucleation phenomenon to the process of S8
formation and deposition. where ΔG is the change in Gibbs free energy (kJ/kg); ΔH is the
change in enthalpy (kJ/kg); ΔS is the change in entropy (kJ/kg K).
The pre-exponential factor of Eq. (1) is given by:
2. Methodology 2σ 1
K = θαcvsN2[ ]2
kBT (3)
The simulations in this work were performed using the HYSYSs
V7 process simulator, using the Peng-Robinson equation of state, where ϴ is the non-isothermal factor (¼1 for diluted mixtures);
and a MATLABs program version R2010a was used to determine αc is the condensation factor (m/s); vs is the solute's molecular
the nucleation rate. The methodology used for the simulations in volume (m³); N is the number of condensable molecules (cm  3);
the HYSYSs was the same used by Pack (2005). Information about and s is the solute's interfacial tension (N/m).
the operational conditions of the Fazenda Mamoeiro Field, which The solute's molecular volume can be calculated for each point
belongs to the Field-School Project (FSP) of the Federal University as a function of temperature, according to Eq. (4):
of Bahia, allowed the simulations to be performed using actual
1
parameters, such as natural gas composition, operating pressure vs = T
and temperature conditions. The influence of natural gas compo-
[M (3 − 2( T ))0.31NA] (4)
b
sition on the homogenous nucleation rate was evaluated using
where M is the molar volume of sulfur (mol/m³); NA is Avogadro's
thermmophysical data of average gas streams produced in the
number (mol  1); and Tb is the bubble point temperature (K).
fields of the Brazilian states of Ceará/Rio Grande do Norte (CE/RN),
The number of condensable molecules is calculated by Eq. (5):
Espírito Santo (ES), Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Bahia (Fazenda Ma-
moeiro Field, FSP), as shown in Table 1. N = ρM yE NA (5)
Nucleation in natural gas transport is the process by which
where ρM is the density of the mixture (mol/cm³); and yE is the
Table 1 solute's molar fraction under the extraction conditions.
Composition of natural gas samples used in the simulations The interfacial tension of sulfur can be expressed by Eq. (6)
according to Zhu et al. (2011):
Composition (% vol) CE/RN ES RJ FSP
TbrlnPc
Methane 74.53 88.16 79.69 69.79 σ = Pc2/3Tc1/3[0.1207(1 + ) − 0.281](1 − Tr )1.222
1 − Tbr (6)
Ethane 10.40 4.80 9.89 14.33
Propane 5.43 2.75 5.90 6.24
where Pc is the critical pressure (MPa); Tc is the critical tempera-
i-Butane 0 0 0 1.15
Butane 2.81 1.55 2.13 1.83
ture (K); Tbr is the reduced bubble point temperature; and Tr is the
Pentane 1.30 0.44 0.77 1.14 reduced temperature.
C6 þ 1.40 0.44 0.44 0.49 The mass of sulfur that can be deposited through the nuclea-
Nitrogen 1.39 1.62 0.80 3.19 tion/desublimation process at a certain point, based on the rate of
CO2 2.74 0.24 0.50 1.51
nuclei formation, can be obtained using Eq. (7) according to Pack
O2 0 0 0 0.33
H2S (mg/m³) 1.50 7.50 6.70 7.60 (2005):
m = n. MM (7)
Source: Vaz et al. (2008), modified.
 J.P.L. Santos et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 135 (2015) 461–465
Fig. 1. Fazenda Mamoeiro Field (FSP).
where m is the mass of the substance (kg); n is the number of
moles; and MM is the substance's molecular mass (kg/kmol).
A MATLABs program was developed to solve Eq. (1)–(6) in
each pipeline segment of the gas stream flows. Because there is no
natural gas pipeline from the Fazenda Mamoeiro field to deliver
the produced gas to the customers, the line from the wellhead to
the pressure-restricting valve in the separator (points A and B of
Fig. 1, respectively) was considered as a transportation pipeline for
the calculation of the nucleation rate. The steel pipeline has an I.D.
of 0.0762 meter, 35 meters length and absolute roughness of
0.000183 meter.
The field produces oil and gas at a flow rate of 7 m³/day and
7000 m³/day, respectively. Because multi-phase flow would affect
the nucleation rate calculation, only gas flows in the pipeline were
considered. This consideration is not rough and can be confirmed
by determining the hold-up of liquid (λl), which is the pipe area
fraction occupied by the liquid phase. The fraction of the pipe
occupied by the liquid phase can be determined by Eq. (8) ac-
cording to Shoham (2006):
qL
λl =
qL + qG
where qL is the liquid flow rate (m³/day); and qG is the gas flow
rate (m³/day).
By inserting the oil and gas flows produced by the FSP in Eq.
(8), the results show that the fraction of the area of the pipe oc-
cupied by the liquid phase is about 0.1%. Therefore, 99.9% of the
pipe area is occupied by the gas phase.
The variables were calculated by the computational routine for
each pressure and temperature along the pipeline: pre-ex-
ponential factor, density of the mixture, volume of solute, number
of condensable molecules, reduced temperature, interfacial ten-
sion and, consequently, nucleation rate for each condition. Because
the pressure drop along the pipeline causes temperature reduc-
tion, a linear relationship between pressure and temperature
along the pipeline was assumed in the calculations for simplifi-
cation purposes.
3. Results and discussion
Using Eq. (1), it is possible to calculate the nucleation rate at a
certain point in the pipeline. Contrary to the methodology adopted
by Pack (2005), who calculated the nucleation rate only at the
point in the pipeline where the pressure of the gas stream is re-
duced, a nucleation rate profile of the analyzed pipeline segment
was determined in this study, and the segment was subdivided
into multiple parts. Since there is no information on the percen-
tage of sulfur in the gas stream of the Fazenda Mamoeiro field
(FSP), fields with similar characteristics were studied to determine
463
this correlation. According to Alami et al. (2012), the Hasbah field
in Saudi Arabia has a pressure at the choke of 1700 psia
(11617 kPa), which is the same as in the FSP.
In addition, it is noted that the choke pressure drop before the
restriction is very small in the Hasbah field, which is similar to the
FSP. Given that pressure and temperature conditions from the
choke onwards for the two fields are very close and that there is
no information on the sulfur concentration in the gas stream for
the FSP, in this study it was assumed that the maximum amount of
sulfur in the gas at the wellhead is 0.5 ppm (equal to the Hasbah
field), and it is 0.01 ppm for the conditions upstream of the se-
parator's regulating valve. When the mixture that is leaving the
choke reaches the restriction, it becomes supersaturated with
sulfur and desublimates. This implies that the amount of desu-
blimated sulfur is determined by the difference between the
amount of sulfur in the gas stream (0.5 ppm) and the sulfur sa-
turation condition at the restriction (0.01 ppm). Thus, there is a
desublimation of 0.49 ppm of sulfur.
A MATLABs routine was used to calculate the variables in-
volved in the nucleation rate. Using this routine, it was possible to
calculate the value of each variable as a function of pressure and
temperature for each segment of the line with 3 in I.D. and 35
meters length, from the wellhead to the separator. In this case, a
temperature vector with 100 points was dimensioned so that the
other variables were calculated from it. The input parameters used
to solve Eq. (1)–(6) are shown in Table 2.
It was possible to obtain a nucleation rate profile along the
pipeline using data from Table 2 together with the routine de-
veloped to solve Eq. (1)–(6). This nucleation profile for the set of
line segments (from the wellhead to the separator) is shown in
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 shows the behavior of the nucleation rate along the gas
flow pipeline of the Fazenda Mamoeiro field. The solubility con-
ditions of sulfur in the gas stream are changed as temperature falls
along the line. At high temperatures (for example, 350 K), the
sulfur solubility in natural gas (0.5 ppm) is close to maximum in
(8)
the gas stream. Therefore, most sulfur remains solubilized. This
means that nucleation rates are lower at high temperatures, re-
sulting in low amounts of deposited elemental sulfur. However, as
the temperature falls because of cooling during gas flow, the so-
lubility of the mixture is modified, and the gas stream starts to be
supersaturated in sulfur. Therefore, the amount of sulfur that may
desublimate increases, which results in an increase in the particle
formation rate, as shown in Fig. 2.
It is noteworthy that the segment selected to determine the
nucleation profile has no restrictions in the line that could result in
low pressure and temperatures. This explains the occurrence of a
Table 2
Input parameters of the MATLABs routine used to calculate the nucleation rate
profile of the Fazenda Mamoeiro field (FSP).
Input parameters Values
Variation of Gibbs free energy (J)  738.3  10  23
Boltzmann constant (J/K) 1.38  10  23
Pressure at the wellhead (kPa) 11617.6
Pressure upstream of the separator (kPa) 10928.2
Temperature at the wellhead (K) 350
Temperature upstream of the separator (K) 305
Sulfur molar fraction under extraction conditions 4.9  10  7
(dimensionless)
Avogadro's number (mol  1) 6.023  1023
Sulfur critical temperature (K) 1314
Sulfur bubble temperature (K) 717.7
Sulfur critical pressure (MPa) 11.75
Sulfur molar volume (mol/m³) 6.45  104
Non-isothermal factor (dimensionless) 1
Condensation factor (m/s) 0.1
464 J.P.L. Santos et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 135 (2015) 461–465
1.40E+09
1.20E+09
1.00E+09
J (cm-3s-1)
8.00E+08
6.00E+08
4.00E+08
2.00E+08
0.00E+00
300 310 320 330 340
Temperature (K)
Fig. 2. Nucleation rate profile as a function of temperature along the pipeline in the
Fazenda Mamoeiro Field (FSP).
low nucleation rate along the studied line. However, very low
temperatures may occur in pressure-reduced conditions, for ex-
ample in restrictions, and nucleation rates may reach much higher
values in those cases. This can be observed in the behavior of the
curve in Fig. 2, which increases exponentially to very high nu-
cleation rates at very low temperatures, as in the case of pressure
reductions. According to Pack (2005), nucleation rates may reach
values on the order of 1013 cm  3 s  1 in restrictions, which ex-
plains why these places have larger amounts of elemental sulfur
deposited downstream of valves.
The mass of sulfur deposited along the pipeline can be esti-
mated from the nucleation rate profile. Thus, the calculated values
for the 100 points along the pipeline were used to estimate the
average nucleation rate. The average nucleation rate was
6.26  108 cm  3 s  1 for a 35-meter section of pipeline. Using the
average nucleation rate, the line's operational conditions, the gas
production flow rate of the Fazenda Mamoeiro field and the gas
composition given in Table 1, the rate is 1.49  1022 nuclei/day.
Using the molecular mass of sulfur (32.06 kg/kmol) in Eq. (7), the
mass of sulfur deposited in the pipeline is
m = (1.49x1022 /6.023x1023) × 32.06 = 0.291 kg/year
The amount of sulfur deposited in the pipeline is small com-
pared to the values that can be deposited downstream of the re-
strictions. However, the small amount of deposited sulfur can be
explained by two factors. First, the very short extension of the line
(35 m) resulted in a small pressure drop, which reduces the pos-
sibility of sulfur supersaturation in the gas stream. Second, the
nucleation rate was calculated for a pipe segment with no re-
strictions; therefore, gas was able to flow in a wider space with
less turbulent conditions. The number of molecules that collide
inside the pipeline is low under such conditions, and the particles
formed are very small and can be transported together with the
gas stream for longer distances, with little deposition in the pi-
peline. The objective of this calculation was to demonstrate that
the amount of sulfur deposited in unrestricted pipeline sections is
actually very small, and does not cause a significant loss of flow
area. However, even small amounts of sulfur deposited along the
pipeline may cause corrosion problems and affect transportation
operational safety.
As previously discussed, the more serious problems of ele-
mental sulfur deposition occur downstream of restrictions in pi-
pelines. In these places, the gas stream may reach very low pres-
sures and temperatures because of the Joule-Thompson effect. To
evaluate the effect on nucleation rate at these locations, a situation
was considered in which the FSP gas was delivered to a Natural
Gas Processing Unit (NGPU) with pressure and temperature simi-
lar to those of the plant that receives the gas produced at the
Hasbah field, that is, 800psia (5414.4 kPa) and 35 °F (275 K).
The nucleation rate obtained by running the MATLABs routine
for the conditions downstream of the restriction was
1.03  1013 cm  3 s  1. This value is in accordance with Pack (2005),
within an order of magnitude of the 1013 cm  3 s  1 value given by
the author for restrictions. The sulfur mass that would be de-
posited for this nucleation rate was calculated using the afore-
mentioned procedure. It is noteworthy that the amount of sulfur
that could desublimate at this point was considered equal to
0.0099 ppm, as reported by Alami et al. (2012). The nucleation rate
translates to 4.77  1023 nuclei per day. The sulfur mass deposited
downstream of the valve, determined by Eq. (7), is as follows:
350
m = (4.77 × 1023/6.023 × 1023) × 32.06 = 9.7 kg/year
This value is on the same order of magnitude as that of Pack
(2005), who estimated 1.075 kg/year of sulfur deposited down-
stream of a certain point for a gas stream with 0.009 ppm of sulfur.
It has to be mentioned that the author found a lower mass for a
similar sulfur concentration (0.009 ppm) because pressure and
temperature conditions were different. The author considered a
temperature of 288.65 K at the reduction stage, whereas this study
uses a value of 275 K.
The values obtained for the line and the restriction confirm
previous results showing that a higher amount of deposited sulfur
is found downstream of the restriction points. More particle–
particle collisions occur at these locations, enabling a higher de-
gree of agglutination and larger particle sizes. This is enhanced by
the effect of a pressure and temperature drop that makes the
stream supersaturated with sulfur. Differences in nucleation at
different pressure and temperature conditions make it easier to
understand why some points show visible deposition of elemental
sulfur and others do not.
The nucleation rates in the pipeline and the restrictions enable
to assess the effect of pressure and temperature on the deposition
phenomenon. However, as previously discussed, the composition
of the gas stream is another parameter that may influence sulfur
deposition in pipelines. Thus, the same operational conditions of
pressure, temperature, production flow rate and amount of sulfur
in the FSP gas stream were used to calculate the nucleation rate
profiles of the gas streams of the CE/RN, ES and RJ fields, whose
compositions are shown in Table 1. The only variable that has to be
modified in the routine for each field is the change in Gibbs free
energy; the other variables are calculated as functions of tem-
perature. The comparative results showing the influence of natural
gas composition on the nucleation rate profile are shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 shows that the composition of the gas stream influences
the homogenous nucleation rate profile, even though the different
streams have the same operational conditions. Nucleation rates
are very similar for all compositions at high temperatures, when
sulfur concentration is close to the maximum solubility in the gas
stream. However, the curves are separated when the temperature
is reduced because of the cooling effect of the pipeline. Thus, the
influence of the gas composition becomes more significant at very
low temperatures, as can occur in restrictions. A comparison of the
curves for gas streams from the ES and CE/RN fields, which have
very different compositions, shows that, at low temperatures, the
nucleation rates of the gas from the ES field grow exponentially
and reach much higher values than those of the gas stream from
the CE/RN field.
The differences between the curves can be explained by the
tendency of the gas stream to form droplets at low temperatures.
When the gas stream has a higher fraction of heavy components
(C3 þ), as in the case of the CE/RN field, the probability of forming
 J.P.L. Santos et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 135 (2015) 461–465
1.80E+09
1.60E+09
ES gas stream
RJ gas stream
1.40E+09
FSP gas stream
1.20E+09
J (cm-3s-1)
CE/RN gas stream
1.00E+09
8.00E+08
6.00E+08
4.00E+08
2.00E+08
0.00E+00
300 310 320 330
Temperature (K)
Fig. 3. Influence of gas stream composition on the nucleation rate profile.
droplets is higher, which consequently favors heterogeneous nu-
cleation. When the heterogeneous nucleation is favored, homo-
geneous nucleation is impaired, and this results in a less homo-
genous nucleation rate for the CE/RN gas stream compared to the
ES field. Therefore, the comparison of nucleation rate profiles for
the four gas streams confirms that natural gas composition influ-
ences the sulfur mass that may be deposited along a pipeline.
4. Conclusions
The following conclusions can be made based on this study:
1. Among the factors related to elemental sulfur formation, nu-
cleation is one of the most important mechanisms controlling
sulfur deposition in natural gas pipelines. Higher homogeneous
nucleation rate occurs at the point of low pressure and tem-
perature exactly where higher deposition rates of sulfur in gas
pipelines are detected.
2. The nucleation mechanism propagates by the coagulation/ag-
glomeration of the particles that cause nuclei formation. As the
sulfur nuclei are generated, together with other suspended
particles, they agglomerate and increase in size. When they
reach a certain stage, called the critical nucleus, they may settle
in the pipeline due to gravity.
3. The flow profile of the gas stream also influences the nucleation
phenomenon and consequently the sulfur mass that is de-
posited in the pipeline.
4. Although the study was performed with a short-length pipe, it
465
is important to comprehend and solve real problems because
the results showed that higher deposition rates occur at the
point of low pressures and temperatures. The deposition along
the line is very small, which shows that the deposition is more
localized and concentrated at pressure breakpoints.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Bahia Research Foundation (Fundação de
Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia - FAPESB) for financing the
Project, grant number APP 0008/2011, and the Graduate Studies
Program in Chemical Engineering (Programa de Pós-Graduação em
Engenharia Química) of the Federal University of Bahia (Uni-
340 350
versidade Federal da Bahia - UFBA).
References
Alami, I.A., Al-Haji, M.N., Al-Adel, S.I., 2012. Saudi Aramco offshore sour gas pro-
duction: elemental sulfur deposition mitigation. Saudi Aramco J. Technol. –
Spring.
Cézac, P., Serin, J.-P., Reneaume, J.-M., Mercadier, J., Mouton, G., 2008. Elemental
sulphur deposition in natural gas transmission and distribution networks. J.
Supercrit. Fluids 44 (2), 115–122.
Chesnoy, A.B., Pack, D.J., 1997. S8 threatens natural gas operations, environment. Oil
Gas. J. 95 (17), 74–79.
Pack, D.J., 2005. “Elemental sulphur” formation in natural gas transmission pipe-
lines (Ph.D. Thesis). School of Oil and Gas Engineering, The University of
Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Pack, D.J., Chesnoy, A.B., Bosio, J., 2013. Gas flow measurement & the impact of
contaminants in the gas stream. 16th International Flow Measurement Con-
ference, FLOMEKO 2013, 24–26th September, Paris.
Pack, D.J., Parks, D.W., Chesnoy, A.B., 2012. Gas pipeline preferential site selection
occurrence for elemental sulphur & other particle matter formation & deposi-
tion. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 94–95, 12–18.
Santos, L.C.L., Santos, J.P.L., Lobato, A.K.C.L., Moraes, C., 2013. Study of the operating
conditions on the deposition of natural gas in pipelines. J. Pet. Environ. Bio-
technol. 4 (6), 181.
Shoham, O., 2006,. Mechanistic modeling of gas-liquid two-phase flow in pipes.
Soc. Pet. Eng., 408.
Taylor, M.A., Kimtantas, C L., 2014. Systems and methods for removing elemental
sulfur from a hydrocarbon fluid. Nº US 2014/0165831 A1.
Turk, M., 2000. Influence of thermodynamic behaviour and solute properties on
homogeneous nucleation in supercritical solutions. J. Supercrit. Fluids 18 (3),
169–184.
Vaz, C.E.M., Maia, J.L.P., Santos, W.G., 2008. Tecnologia da indústria do gás natural
[Technology of the natural gas industry]. 1ª ed, Blucher and Petrobras, Rio de
Janeiro.
Zhou, F., Hongchuan, L., Jianyi, L., Xu, O.Y., Liuli, L., 2013. The elemental sulfur de-
position and its corrosion in high sulfur gas fields. Nat. Gas. Ind. 33 (9),
102–109.
Zhu, Z., Tajallipour, N., Teevens, P.J., Lepková, K., Gubner, R., 2011. Modeling of
Elemental Sulfur Deposition in Sour-Gas Petroleum Pipelines. NACE Interna-
tional Corrosion 2011, Houston, Texas (Paper no 11124).